Whitefish Community Foundation awarded $8.1 million to 85 Flathead Valley nonprofit organizations during the Great Fish Awards Ceremony Tuesday evening.

The total amount included nearly $6.7 million donated by more than 4,200 individuals, families and businesses during the one-month campaign, plus an additional $1.4 million from the Great Fish Match provided by Whitefish Community Foundation’s Circle of Giving and other donors.

This year’s Great Fish Match is the largest in the history of the Challenge, thanks to the foundation’s growing Circle of Giving and other donors who made a gift to the match during the campaign. In celebration of the foundation’s 25th anniversary, the Circle of Giving received a $250,000 bonus gift for surpassing 250 members. The Circle of Giving grew to 280 members, of which 92 are new to the program. The Circle of Giving is the core group of donors that give $5,000 or more annually to support the foundation’s grant programs including the Great Fish Match.

This year, each nonprofit received a 68 percent match on $25,000, resulting in a $17,000 matching grant per qualifying organization. Last year’s matching grant was $14,500 per organization.

Whitefish Community Foundation also awarded $59,500 in incentive grants and special awards, bringing the grand total awarded through this year’s Great Fish Community Challenge to an all-time high of $8,098,663. This represents a 21 percent increase over last year’s campaign.

“The generosity we witnessed this year is nothing short of extraordinary,” President and CEO of Whitefish Community Foundation Alan Davis said. “To see our community come together and raise more than $8 million for local nonprofits is both humbling and inspiring. It shows what’s possible when we come together and invest in the future of the Flathead Valley.”

The Great Fish Community Challenge is a charitable giving campaign that offers donors the opportunity to give to multiple organizations with one transaction. Whitefish Community Foundation organizes and administers the Challenge free of charge for nonprofits. The estimated cost of this year’s Challenge was approximately $368,000, a value of over $4,300 to each participating nonprofit. Since 2015, the Great Fish Community Challenge has raised over $43 million for more than 100 Flathead Valley nonprofits.

Whitefish Community Foundation presented numerous special awards Tuesday evening, including the $10,000 Great Fish Award given annually to an organization that demonstrates tremendous leadership and dedication toward advancing their mission and impacting the critical needs in local communities. North Valley Food Bank was selected as the 2025 Great Fish Award recipient for the organization’s work to provide food assistance to more than 1,200 people weekly through a free grocery store in Whitefish and mobile pantries in Columbia Falls, Essex, Olney and Trego. Additionally, North Valley Food Bank makes pantry deliveries to Browning, Bigfork, Yaak, Eureka, Libby and Troy.

The Daily Inter Lake received the Corporate Citizenship Award in recognition of their professional coverage of the critical work of nonprofits throughout the Flathead Valley and their dedication to connecting the community through local stories that build awareness and inspire generosity. A $2,500 grant accompanied the award, which the Daily Inter Lake directed to Writing Coaches of Montana.

Whitefish Community Foundation’s three living founders, Rox Hicks, Mike Jenson and John Kramer, received the Connie Heckathorn Cheers for Volunteers Award in honor of their work, alongside Heckathorn and Dave Stewart, to create a hub for philanthropic giving in the Flathead Valley that has connected donors with local nonprofits for the past 25 years. A $2,500 grant accompanied each award, which Hicks directed to the Whitefish Dog Park in memory of her husband Hugh Rogers, Jenson directed to Sparrow’s Nest of NW MT, and Kramer directed to Whitefish Education Foundation.

A detailed report on the 2025 Great Fish Community Challenge will be included in the Daily Inter Lake, Whitefish Pilot, Bigfork Eagle and Hungry Horse News on Oct. 29.

The Great Fish Community Challenge is made possible by title sponsor BNSF and supporting sponsors First Interstate Bank, Glacier Bank, Glacier Guides Montana Raft, Harris Financial, Iron Horse Foundation, JCCS, Park Side Credit Union, Stockman Bank, Summit Beverage, Three Rivers Bank and Whitefish Credit Union. These dedicated sponsors help keep the Challenge free of charge for participating nonprofits.

For more information about Whitefish Community Foundation, visit whitefishcommunityfoundation.org.